The City of Jacksonville is nearing completion on a months-long project to rehabilitate the Municipal Building.
Using American Rescue Plan Act funding, or ARPA, the city has been able to speed up some deferred maintenance at the building which includes painting walls, cleaning, and some reorganization of offices.
Current head of the Municipal Building grounds, John Green has been leading the projects. Morgan County Emergency Management Coordinator Phil McCarty brought the final piece of the renovation to the City Council on Monday night with a proposal to update the furniture in both the second floor conference room, where the city’s workshop sessions are held as well as several committee meetings, and furniture in the council chambers.
McCarty says it’s all an effort to make things more uniform and comfortable, starting with the conference room: “Just in this room alone there is 5 different types of chairs. Then, you add just what the audience sits on in the [council chambers], there is another 3 different types of chairs. It’s all mismatched and doesn’t look very professional and nice, especially with the work that John has done up here cleaning everything up and getting the walls painted – we have no pictures coming, etc. – that’s what it is. It’s all to standardize what is up here – the tables that the council members are sitting at and the 5 other different types of chairs that everybody else is sitting on in here. This is part of that money that was allocated out of the American Rescue Funds. This is the last of the city council upgrades.”
McCarty says that previously the city had always used Wade & Dowland for their office supplies and furniture, but after the business’ closure, they have had to find new vendors. McCarty says that Quill will be the new vendor specifically for the furniture. Cost for the new furniture is expected to be just under $10,400 – with all of the money coming from ARPA funding.
The old chairs are expected to be sold at a later date. Methods of sale have yet to be advertised.